Automatic accident informing apparatus for two-wheel vehicle

ABSTRACT

An automatic accident informing apparatus for a two-wheel vehicle is provided which can detect the occurrence of accident with the use of a simple arrangement. The automatic accident informing apparatus for a two-wheel vehicle includes an accident detecting module  3  for detecting an accident of the vehicle and an accident informing module  7  arranged responsive to the occurrence of the accident detected by the accident detecting module  3  for informing an external party(s) of the accident. The accident detecting module  3  includes an inclination sensor  2  for measuring the inclination angle of the vehicle and an accident judgment unit  340  for judging that the vehicle met with the accident when the inclination of the vehicle remains higher than a predetermined degree throughout a specific length of time.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a automatic accident informingapparatus for a two-wheel vehicle and particularly to an accidentinforming apparatus for detecting the accident of a two-wheel vehiclewith the use of a simple arrangement but not an acceleration sensor andautomatically informing of the accident.

BACKGROUND ART

Disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-open Publications (Showa) 58-16399 and(Heisei) 5-5626 are automatic accident informing apparatuses for, when avehicle have an accident, automatically informing of the accident toquickly receive a first aid.

According to the prior arts, the accident is detected by an accelerationsensor mounted a vehicle when a significant degree of acceleration issensed and an emergency signal is transmitted together with data of theposition of the vehicle by a radio communicating means to apredetermined station. As the acceleration sensors provided for anair-bag safety system are used as accident sensors for detecting theaccident, the number of components and the overall weight will bedecreased, thus minimizing the cost of the apparatus.

The prior arts are however developed for four-wheel vehicles and canhardly be applied to two-wheel vehicles. Because the existing two-wheelvehicles are commonly provided with no air-bag safety system, theacceleration sensors have to be mounted separately. Additionally, theaccident of the two-wheel vehicles includes not only a crash but also afall down. The level of acceleration at the fall down may be smallerthan that at the crash. It is hence difficult to determine whether theaccident is a crash or a fall down with the use of a single accelerationsensor. As a result, either different sensing range types or anadvanced, expensive, wider sensing range type of the acceleration sensorhave to be used.

When a high level of sensing signal is output from the accelerationsensor, it have to be examined whether it is due to the serious accidentor a minor incident such as running over a step-stone and requires apost signal process such as sophisticated waveform analysis.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an automaticaccident informing apparatus for a two-wheel vehicle which can detectthe occurrence of an accident with the use of a simple arrangement butnot any acceleration sensor.

DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION

For achievement of the object, an automatic accident informing apparatusfor a two-wheel vehicle which includes an accident detecting means fordetecting an accident of the vehicle and an accident informing means forinforming an external party(s) of the accident is adapted having thefollowing features according to the present invention.

(1) The accident detecting means comprises: an inclination sensor formeasuring the inclination angle of the vehicle; and an accident judgingmeans for judging that the vehicle met with the accident when theinclination angle of the vehicle measured by the inclination sensorremains higher than a predetermine degree throughout a specific lengthof time.

As the accident such as a crash or fall down of a two-wheel vehicle isdetected from a signal output of the inclination sensor, the overallarrangement can be more simplified than that using an accelerationsensor. Also, most two-wheel vehicles are equipped with the inclinationsensor and will thus require no particular sensors for the accidentjudgment.

It is judged that the vehicle met with an accident when the inclinationangle of the vehicle remains higher than the predetermine degreethroughout the specific length of time. If the vehicle is fell down inits non-running mode and stood back quickly by the driver, it is notjudged that the vehicle met with the accident. As a result, anunnecessary information will be avoided.

(2) Another apparatus comprises: a vehicle speed history saving meansfor saving the history of speeds of the vehicle; an accelerationcalculating means for calculating the acceleration of the vehicle from avehicle speed saved in the vehicle speed history saving means; and aline break detecting means for detecting the break in particularcircuitry line, wherein the accident detecting means judges that thevehicle met with the accident when the line break detecting meansdetects a break in the circuitry line about a time while theacceleration of the vehicle is greater than a predetermined level.

When the break in the particular circuitry lines is detected, it isjudged that the vehicle met with an accident. Accordingly, the action ofinforming of the accident can be carried out automatically even if thesignal line of a sensor for detecting the accident is injured by theaccident.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing one embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an action of the embodiment shown in FIG.1;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a procedure of detecting line break;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a procedure of examining the cause of theline break;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a procedure of the accident judgment;

FIG. 6 is a diagram schematically showing a theory of the accidentjudgment; and

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a procedure of a reset stand-by action.

BEST MODE FOR EMBODYING THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an automatic accident informing apparatusfor a two-wheel vehicle according to one embodiment of the presentinvention, which comprises a vehicle speed sensor 1 for generating asignal indicative of the speed of a vehicle, an inclination sensor 2 forgenerating a signal indicative of the angle of inclination of thevehicle, an accident detecting module 3 for detecting an accident of thevehicle, an accident informing module 7 responsive to the detection ofthe accident in the accident detecting module 3 for informing anexternal party of the accident, and a drive recorder 8 for recordingdriving data before and after the accident.

The accident detecting module 3 includes a detector 31 for detecting theinclination angle θ and the speed V of the vehicle from the outputsignals of the vehicle speed sensor 1 and the inclination sensor 2, aGPS unit 32, an antenna unit 33 connected to the GPS unit 32, and a mainCPU 34.

The GPS unit 32 measures the latitude Lat, the longitude Lon, thedirection Dir, and the speed Vgps of the vehicle. The main CPU 34includes a vehicle speed history memory 343 for saving a history of thevehicle speed V measured by the vehicle speed sensor 1, an accelerationcalculator 342 for calculating the acceleration dV of the vehicle fromdata saved in the vehicle speed history memory 343, a line breakdetector 341 for examining whether or not the signal line L1 from thevehicle speed sensor 1, the signal line L2 from the inclination sensor2, and the signal line L3 from the GPS antenna 33 are broken, and anaccident judgment 340 for judging from the speed V, the inclinationangle θ, the acceleration dV of the vehicle, and a signal output of theline break detector 341 whether the vehicle has an accident or not.

The signal lines L1 and L2 of the detector 31 side and the signal lineL3 of the GPS unit 32 side are pulled down (or up) with highresistances. The line break detector 341 constantly monitors the voltagelevel on the signal lines L1, L2, and L3 and when the voltage level isturned to “L” (or “H”) level, detects break in line.

The main CPU 34 is also connected with an emergency switch 4, a restswitch 5, and a display 6. The emergency switch 4 is switched on by adriver informing of an accident regardless of the actual event. Thereset switch 5 is also switched on when no information is needed. Uponreceiving a reset signal from the reset switch 5, the main CPU 34(and/or the accident informing module 7) cancels the action ofinformation.

The accident informing module 7 includes an accident data memory 71 anda communications device 72. The accident data memory 71 has an informedparty area 71 a for saving at least one party to be informed and aposition data area 71 b for saving the position of the vehicle at thetime of the accident received from the GPS unit 32. The communicationsdevice 72 upon receiving a command of informing the accident from theCPU 34 transmits by radio the position data together with a message ofthe accident to all the parties saved in the informed party area 71 a.

The main CPU 34 and the accident informing module 7 are also energizedwith a backup battery 10 for continuing the transmission of the accidentmessage when a main battery 9 or breaks the power line Lb is broken bythe accident. The antenna 73 for the communications device 72 may bebuilt in the accident informing module 7 or installed together with theaccident informing module 7 in a single enclosure. As its signal line isnot exposed to the outside, the antenna 73 will hardly lose its functionby the accident.

The accident detecting module 3 and the accident informing module 7maybe connected to a radio communications network by the Bluetoothstandard which has been developed for near-distant data communications.When the driver has a hand-held telephone equipped with the Bluetoothstandard, the accident detecting module 3 mounted in the vehicle needsnot to be connected by a cable to the hand-held telephone or theaccident informing module 7. With the Bluetooth standard, anadvantageous system can be employed where a hard hat(helmet) of thedriver is equipped with a radio communications apparatus fortransmitting and receiving radio signals with the accident informingmodule 7.

The drive recorder 8 is connected with a brake switch, a throttle anglesensor, a headlight dimmer switch, a horn switch, a side marker switch,a passing switch, a hazard switch, and a transmission position sensorand its data processor 81 detects and saves the action of each switch orsensor in a state memory 82. A backup battery 84 energized constantly bythe battery 9 is also provided for when the accident breaks the batteryline Lb, feeding both the data processor 81 and the state memory 82 withpower.

The backup battery 84 is connected by a switch 85 to the data processor81. A timer 86 is provided for starting the counting action when thebattery line Lb is broken and the action of backup energization iscommenced. When a predetermined duration of time has passed, the switch85 is opened. As a result, the feeding of power is canceled to the dataprocessor 81 but not to the state memory 82. This allows the statememory 82 to be energized by the backup battery 84 for an extendedperiod of time.

The action of the embodiment will now be described referring to aflowchart shown in FIG. 2. Referring to FIG. 2, the procedure startswith Step S1 for initializing the parameters when the ignition switch(not shown) is turned on, for example, resetting of a break flag Fcutand an accident break flag FCV. It is then examined whether or not thesignal lines L1 and L2 from the vehicle speed sensor 1 and theinclination sensor 2 respectively and the signal line L3 from the GPSantenna 33 as well as the sensors 1, 2 and the GPS antenna 33 themselvesare enable.

When it is judged that the sensors 1 and 2 and the GPS antenna 33operate normally, the procedure goes to Step S2 of line break detectionwhere it is examined whether the signal lines L1, L2, and L3 from thetwo sensors 1 and 2 and the GPS antenna 33 are broken or not.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a procedure of the line break detectionwhich is mainly the action of the line break detector 341.

It is examined at Step S21 where or not the signal line L2 from theinclination sensor 2 is broken. When the break in line is initiallydetected, the procedure goes to Step S24. When not or the break in linehas been detected, the procedure advances to Step S22. It is thenexamined at Step S22 whether or not the signal line L1 from the vehiclespeed sensor 1 is broken. Similarly, it is examined at Step S23 whetheror not the signal line L3 from the GPS antenna 33 is broken. In eithercase, when the disconnection on the signal line is initially detected,the maximum speed of the vehicle speed V for past five seconds forexample is set at Step S24 to the disconnection Vcut. Then, the linebreak flag Fcut is set up.

Returning back to FIG. 2, when the break in line is newly found on thesignal lines L1, L2, or L3 in the line break detection at Step S2, aprocess of determining the cause of the break follows where it isexamined whether or not the break in line is caused by the accident.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the procedure of determining the cause ofthe break in line which is mainly the action of the accident judgment340.

The line break flag Fcut is first examined at Step S31. When the linebreak flag Fcut is set up, the procedure goes to Step S32 for comparingbetween the speed at the break in line Vcut and a reference speed Vc.When the speed Vcut is not higher than the speed Vc which may be set to1 km/h, it is judged that the line break is caused by not a trafficaccident but a mistake during the maintenance service regardless of theaccident for example and the procedure is terminated.

When the speed Vcut is higher than the speed Vc, it is judged that thebreak in line is caused by the traffic accident during the running andprocedure advances to Step S33. At Step S33, the accident break flag Fcvindicating that the signal lines are broken by the accident is set up.

Returning to FIG. 2, the procedure goes to Step S4 where the vehiclespeed V measured by the vehicle speed sensor 1, the acceleration dVcalculated by the acceleration calculator 342, the inclination angle θmeasured by the inclination sensor 2, and the longitude Lon, thelatitude Lat, the speed Vgps, and the direction Dir measured by the GPSunit 32 are saved as the position data in the position data area 71 b inthe accident data memory 71 in the accident informing module 7. Theposition data area 71 b holds the position data of the past 10 secondssampled at equal intervals of a predetermined sampling period. Theposition data before 10 seconds are erased as the time goes by.

This is followed by Step S5 where it is examined whether the emergencyswitch 4 is closed or not. When so, the procedure jumps to Step S9 forinforming of the occurrence of an accident, which will be describedlater in more detail. When not, the procedure goes to Step S6 where theaction of accident judgment is carried out.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the action of accident judgment which ismainly the action of the accident judgment unit 340. FIG. 6schematically illustrates the judgement process.

It commonly happens that a two-wheel vehicle falls down due to not onlytraffic accident but also misbalance even when the vehicle is notdriven. In the latter case, the driver may hardly suffer from seriousinjury. It is hence desired for a system of judging the accident fromdata output of the inclination sensor to classify the event of fall downinto two types caused by the traffic accident and by any other reason.

This embodiment employs the acceleration calculated from the vehiclespeed V as a parameter for the accident judgment. More specifically,when the acceleration reaches an excessive rate and the fall down isdetected, it is then judged that the traffic accident occurs.

It may not always be common for a two-wheel vehicle that a change in theacceleration and the fall down occur at the same time. As shown in FIG.6, the vehicle may be fallen down (at t1), slid over the road surface,and then crushed (at t2). In this case, the acceleration is not largelychanged at the timing of detection of the fall down. On the contrary, ifthe vehicle crashes (at t3) and then falls down (at t4), a change in theacceleration is faded out at the timing of detection of the fall down.In this embodiment, the accident judgment is modified to give a correctjudgment when the change in the acceleration and the fall down aredetected at an interval of time.

At Step S60 shown in FIG. 5, the accident break flag Fcv (FIG. 4) isexamined. When the flag Fcv is set up, it is then judged that theaccident occurs and the procedure jumps to Step S75. When the flag Fcvis in its reset state, the procedure goes to Step s61.

It is compared at Step S61 between the absolute of the acceleration dVat the current and an accident judgment reference acceleration dVref1which is set to a larger rate (about 1.0 G) than the maximum (about 0.8G) deceleration generated during the braking action. Accordingly, whenthe current acceleration dV exceeds the reference acceleration dVref1,it is judged that the accident occurs regardless of the fall down andthe procedure jumps to Step S75. When the acceleration dv is not higherthan the reference acceleration dvref1, the procedure moves to Step S62.

It is compared at Step S62 between the maximum speed Vsmax for e.g. thepast five seconds and a not-informing reference speed Vref. When themaximum speed Vsmax exceeds the not-informing reference speed Vref, theprocedure advances to Step S63. The not-informing reference speed Vrefis an upper limit of a range of the speed where the driver is assumednot to suffer from serious injury when the vehicle crashes or fallsdown. In this embodiment, the not-informing reference speed Vref is setto 10 km/h. As the range of the speeds where the driver rarely suffersfrom serious injury when the vehicle crashes or falls down is varieddepending on the size, the weight, and the shape of the vehicle, thenot-informing reference speed Vref may be a rate dedicated to oneparticular type of the vehicle.

At Step S63, a fall-down flag Fdown is examined. The fall-down flagFdown is turned on when the fall down continues throughout a specificlength of time as will be described later in more detail. The fall-downflag Fdown is normally turned off. Then, the procedure goes to S64. Itis then compared at Step S64 between the current inclination angle θmeasured by the inclination sensor 2 and a fall-down judgment referenceangle θroll. When the current inclination angle θ is not higher than thefall-down judgment reference angle θroll, the procedure goes to StepS64. On the contrary, if the current inclination angle θ exceed thefall-down judgment reference angle θroll, it is judged that the vehicleis fell down and the procedure goes to Step S65.

At Step S65, when the fall-down timer Tdown is not started, it isstarted. It is then examined at Step S66 whether or not the fall-downtimer Tdown is timed out. When the current inclination angle θ returnsback to below the fall-down judgment reference angle θroll before thefall-down timer Tdown is timed out, it is judged that the fall-down iscaused by any other event than the traffic accident and the procedurejumps to Step S69.

When the fall-down timer Tdown is timed out before the currentinclination angle θ returns back to below the fall-down judgmentreference angle θroll, the procedure goes to Step S67 for setting thefall-down flag Fdown on. At Step S68, a flag holding timer Th1 isstarted for maintaining the fall-down flag Fdown in its set-up statethroughout a specific length of time. The specific length of time Δt1 iscalculated from a series of experiments as being equal to a difference(t2−t1) shown in FIG. 6.

At Step S69, an acceleration excess flag Fd is examined which is set upwhen the negative acceleration becomes excessively large as will bedescribed later. The acceleration excess flag Fd is normally in itsreset state and the procedure goes to Step S70. It is compared at StepS70 between the absolute of the current acceleration dV and an accidentjudgment reference acceleration dVref2. The accident judgment referenceacceleration dvref2 is set to a lower limit (0.3 to 0.4 G) of a range ofthe acceleration which may be encountered when the vehicle crashes orfalls down. As a result, when the current acceleration dV is not higherthan the accident judgment reference acceleration dVref2, the procedureis terminated.

When it is judged that the current acceleration dV is higher than theaccident judgment reference acceleration dVref2, the acceleration excessflag Fd is set up at Step S71. This is followed by Step S72 where a flagholding timer Th2 is started for maintaining the acceleration excessflag Fd in its set-up state throughout a predetermined length of timeΔt2. The length of time Δt2 is calculated from a series of experimentsas is equal to a difference (t4−t3) shown in FIG. 6.

It is then examined at Step s73 whether or not the fall-down timer Tdownand the acceleration excess flag Fd are in their set-up state. When so,the procedure goes to Step S75 for setting an accident flag Fac on.

When at least either the fall-down timer Tdown or the accelerationexcess flag Fd is not in its set-up state, the procedure goes to StepS74 where the two flag holding timers Th1 and Th2 are examined. When thetimer is timed out, its corresponding fall-down flag Fdown oracceleration excess flag Fd is reset to zero.

As described above, the embodiment permits the vehicle to be judged thatit met with an accident when the inclination angle remains higher thanthe reference level throughout a period of time longer than apredetermined length. Accordingly, if the vehicle in its not-runningmode falls down, it can be stood back by its driver and judged that itmet with no traffic accident, thus eliminating an unnecessary action ofinforming.

Returning back to FIG. 2, Step S7 follows where the accident flag Fac isexamined. When the accident flag Fac is not set up, the procedure goesback to Step S2. When the accident flag Fac is set up, the proceduremoves to Step S8 for carrying out a reset stand-by process.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the reset stand-by process. In thisembodiment, when the accident judgment is made (at Fac=1) and theaccident is too insignificant to be informed, its information can becanceled by the driver for switching on a cancel switch within apredetermined period of time.

At Step S81, a data collection timer Tinfo (set to two seconds in thisembodiment) is started. At Step S82, a reset stand-by timer Twait (setto ten seconds in this embodiment) is started. It is then examined atStep S83 whether the data collection timer Tinfo is timed out or not.When the timer Tinfo is timed out, the procedure goes to Step S84 wherethe position data collecting action of the accident data memory 71 inthe accident informing module 7 is stopped.

It is then examined at Step S85 whether the reset switch 5 is closed ornot. When the reset switch is closed, the procedure moves to Step S86for displaying a message “System OFF” on the screen of the display 6. AtStep S87, the action of the automatic accident informing system isterminated.

When the reset switch 5 is not closed, it is examined at Step S88whether the reset stand-by timer Twait is timed out or not. The stepsfrom S83 to S88 are repeated until the timer Twait is timed out. When itis judged that the timer Twait is timed out, this subroutine isterminated and the procedure returns back to Step S9 shown in FIG. 2.

At Step S9, the parties to be informed and the position data saved inthe accident data memory 71 are transferred to the transmitter 72 in theaccident informing module 7. At Step S10, a group of the information istransmitted in a radio communications protocol such as PHS to theparties to be informed.

It is understood that the present invention is not limited to theembodiment where the position data of the vehicle to be informed whenthe accident occurs is generated and supplied by the GPS unit 32. Incase that the communications unit 72 has a PHS function, it may produceand supply a position data based on the positioning operation of the PHSfunction.

Also, according to the embodiment, the accident judgment is made whenthe negative acceleration is detected and the vehicle is inclinedexcessively. If the vehicle is hit at its back by any other vehicle, thepositive acceleration is created. Accordingly, the accident judgment maybe made when the positive acceleration is detected and the inclinationof the vehicle is large.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

The present invention provides the following advantages.

(1) As the crash or fall-down of a two-wheel vehicle is detected from asignal output of the inclination sensor, the accident judgment can bemore accurate and the overall arrangement can be simpler than that witha signal output of the acceleration sensor. Also, most two-wheelvehicles are equipped with the inclination sensor and will thus requireno extra sensors for the accident judgment.

(2) The vehicle is judged to have a serious accident only when itsinclination angle remains higher than a predetermined fall-down degreethroughout a specific length of time. If the vehicle is fell down in itsnot-running mode and stood back quickly by the driver, it is not judgedto have a serious accident, hence eliminating an unnecessary informingaction.

(3) The fall-down flag Fdown and the acceleration excess flag Fd aremaintained throughout the specific length of time and while the twoflags are set up, the accident judgment is made. This allows theaccident judgment to stay accurate when the change in the accelerationand the fall down are detected at an interval of time at the accident.

(4) The cancel switch is provided for canceling the automatic action ofinforming of the accident and when the cancel switch is turned on withina predetermined period of time after the accident, the informing actioncan be canceled. Accordingly, if the accident is too minor to beinformed, its information can be canceled by the driver's will.

(5) The accident judgment is made when break in the particular signallines has been detected. This permits the automatic action of informingthe accident to be certainly executed even if the signal line to aprimary sensor needed for the accident judgment is broken by theaccident.

(6) The accident judgment is made from the break in the signal linesonly when it is determined by a change in the acceleration after theaccident that the running mode of the vehicle is not normal.Accordingly, if the break in the signal lines results from a minor errorsuch as a misconduct during the maintenance action, the automatic actionof informing the accident will not be performed.

What is claimed is:
 1. An automatic accident informing apparatus for a two-wheel vehicle having an accident detecting means for detecting an accident of the vehicle and an accident informing means for informing an external party(s) of the accident, wherein the accident detecting means comprises: an inclination sensor for measuring the inclination angle of the vehicle; a vehicle speed history saving means for saving the history of speeds of the vehicle; an acceleration calculating means for calculating the acceleration of the vehicle from a change in the vehicle speed saved in the vehicle speed history saving means; and an accident judging means for judging that the vehicle met with the accident when the inclination angle of the vehicle measured by the inclination sensor remains higher than a predetermined degree throughout a specific length of time about a time while the acceleration of the vehicle is greater than a predetermined level.
 2. An automatic accident informing apparatus for a two-wheel vehicle having an accident detecting means for detecting an accident of the vehicle and an accident informing means for informing an external party(s) of the accident, comprising: a vehicle speed history saving means for saving the history of speeds of the vehicle; an acceleration calculating means for calculating the acceleration of the vehicle from a change in the vehicle speed saved in the vehicle speed history saving means; and a line break detecting means for detecting the break in particular circuitry lines, wherein the accident detecting means judges that the vehicle met with the accident when the line break detecting means detects break in the circuitry lines about a time while the acceleration of the vehicle is greater than a predetermined level.
 3. An automatic accident informing apparatus for a two-wheel vehicle according to claims 1 or 2, further comprising: a cancel switch for canceling at least either the action of detecting the accident of the accident detecting means or the action of informing of the accident of the accident informing means, wherein the action of the accident detecting means or the accident informing means can be canceled only within a particular period of time after the occurrence of the accident but not when the particular period of time has passed. 